1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to chimney structures, and in particular to chimneys constructed from stackable chimney blocks made of a hardenable construction material, such as concrete, containing decorative patterns on their exterior surfaces to simulate brick or stone patterns.
2. Background Information
Chimneys are generally constructed in two ways. The first technique, a traditional method, is bricklaying. Individual units such as bricks or stones are laid to form the desired shape of the chimney, which is generally rectangular. Gaps between each unit are filled with a bonding substance such as mortar to hold together the chimney. This technique produces a brick chimney with a pleasing appearance, yet there are many problems associated with this technique including: high cost, lengthy construction time, and difficulty in properly forming the chimney.
The desire to create a more economical design led to a second technique: constructing chimneys from a single concrete or cinder block. In this method, concrete is poured into a mold to form a rectangular ring shaped chimney block. This one piece design is both cost efficient and easy to assemble, but it fails to significantly improve the traditional bricklaying technique due to problems with the design. The main problem is that the concrete block has a plain grey exterior that is generally undesirable. The concrete block's drab appearance leads people to forego the economic design for a traditionally-made chimney with a pleasing brick appearance.
Thus, there is a need to produce a chimney that is economical to construct and that has the pleasing appearance of traditional brick pattern chimneys.